The Graze V.185: A Shift in Gratitude

Dear Friends,

For years, Scott and I raised heritage turkeys. We ordered them in March and they arrived at the post office as small poults, just a day old. These turkeys grazed freely in the open field and our kids were charged with providing fresh water twice a day. We all enjoyed the silly antics and watching the male turkeys display their colorful tail feathers. It was messy and exhausting process and as they grew I tried not to dwell on their destiny.

When harvest day arrived on a Saturday in November, we had friends and neighbors gathered to help. We gave thanks and together managed to harvest these birds as cleanly and sympathetically as we could. My children learned something about the processes we depend on for our survival. At the end of the day there was a deep sense of reverence for the lives of these birds and the sacred time we had spent together.

Every year as I begin preparations for Thanksgiving, I am struck by the complex, morally mixed issues this holiday creates. Over the years we have shifted the meaning of this holiday to a deeper sense of gratitude. As I prepare the turkey (this time raised by a farmer down the road!), I hope that this meal can be about the sacred connections we form with one another and the food we eat: the relationship with the soil that grew the squash, onions and carrots and the farmer that raised our turkey; the relationship for the process of how the food made its way to our table along with all of the people who gather with us and for those who are absent.

I attended the Vermont Farm to Plate Network Gathering this week. Farmers and stakeholders from across the state met to focus on transformative change in the systems that impact climate, economic equity, food security and racial justice. As stewards of these 180 acres, Mission Farm shares in these visions for our future as we build connections in our own community food shed.

This season, I am grateful for the gift of life and for the ways our hearts, minds, and souls are nurtured from the Source of all. I am grateful for the beauty of this land we are so fortunate to live on and for the richness of connection to breath, soil, sun, stars, and one another.

🌱Lisa